U.S. patent number 5,214,233 [Application Number 07/835,950] was granted by the patent office on 1993-05-25 for cocking and loading device for self-loading small firearms.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Heckler & Koch GmbH. Invention is credited to Hubert Krieger, Helmut Weldle.
United States Patent |
5,214,233 |
Weldle , et al. |
May 25, 1993 |
Cocking and loading device for self-loading small firearms
Abstract
In a cocking and loading device (3) for self-loading small
firearms which are provided with a bolt movable in their
longitudinal direction, in particular for an automatic rifle, with
a pivoted cocking lever (4) which extends in its rest position in
the longitudinal direction of the weapon and can be transferred
into an operating position by lateral pivoting, in said operating
position a spring (6) endeavoring to pivot the cocking lever
forward and to retain it in the rest position exterts pressure on
said cocking lever, a simple construction of the cocking and
loading device by means of which the bolt can be displcaed in the
cocking direction as well as in the opposite direction and greater
safety for the rifleman against injuries during shooting are
achieved by the fact that the cocking lever (4) is accomodated in
its rest position within the exterior conture of the weapon and is
arranged at the bolt directly or by means of an intermediate part.
Due to the fact that the cocking and loading device (3) is fixed at
the bolt an extensive construction with additional parts of the
weapon is avoided, reducing the weight and the propensity to
malfunctions of the weapon.
Inventors: |
Weldle; Helmut (Oberndorf,
DE), Krieger; Hubert (Schramberg-Waldmossingen,
DE) |
Assignee: |
Heckler & Koch GmbH
(Oberndorf, DE)
|
Family
ID: |
6387869 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/835,950 |
Filed: |
April 21, 1992 |
PCT
Filed: |
July 24, 1990 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/DE90/00564 |
371
Date: |
April 21, 1992 |
102(e)
Date: |
April 21, 1992 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 25, 1989 [DE] |
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39281256 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
89/1.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A
3/72 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41A
3/00 (20060101); F41A 3/72 (20060101); F41A
019/52 () |
Field of
Search: |
;89/1.4 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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648060 |
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May 1964 |
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BE |
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2023523 |
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Sep 1975 |
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DE |
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55392 |
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Jan 1911 |
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CH |
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413071 |
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Jul 1934 |
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GB |
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Other References
The book of Herkimer (FIG. 5 on p. 128). .
The Russian book of Artobolski (Examples 129, 349 and
396)..
|
Primary Examiner: Bentley; Stephen C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fields, Lewis, Pittenger &
Rost
Claims
We claim:
1. Cocking and loading device for a weapon including self-loading
small firearms which are provided with a muzzle and a bolt movable
in a longitudinal direction of the weapon, comprising:
a pivoted cocking lever which extends in a rest position in the
longitudinal direction of the weapon and can be transferred into an
operating position by lateral pivoting, said cocking lever being
pivotally mounted with an end facing away from the muzzle in the
rest position of the cocking lever at the forward end of said bolt,
in said operating position a spring endeavoring to pivot the
cocking lever forward and to retain said cocking lever in the rest
position exerts pressure on said cocking lever, the cocking lever
being accommodated in its rest position within the exterior contour
of the weapon, characterized in that said cocking lever is arranged
at the bolt and can be pivoted out of a housing of the weapon to
the two sides of the longitudinal axis of the weapon.
2. Cocking and loading device according to claim 1, characterized
in that the cocking lever is fixed against movement along the
longitudinal axis of a bolt head carrier.
3. Cocking and loading device according to claim 1, characterized
in that the spring which urges the cocking lever into the rest
position engages the cocking lever by means of a slide.
4. Cocking and loading device according to claim 3, characterized
in that the slide is guided slidably in the bolt in the
longitudinal direction of the weapon against the spring tension
when pivoting the cocking lever from the rest position into the
operating position.
5. Cocking and loading device according to claim 3, characterized
in that seen from the longitudinal direction of the weapon the
cocking lever is arranged at the one side of the pin and the slide
on its other side.
6. Cocking and loading device according to claim 3, characterized
in that the slide embraces the pin and abuts on a contact surface
of the cocking lever.
7. Cocking and loading device according to claim 6, characterized
in that the contact surface is at a distance from the pin axis.
8. Cocking and loading device according to claim 6, characterized
in that the thighs of the slide which embrace the pin are at a
lateral distance from the pin axis.
9. Cocking and loading device according to claim 6, characterized
in that the contact surface has a convex bend relative to the
pin.
10. Cocking and loading device according to claim 3, characterized
in that with the cocking lever being in operating position the
contact point of the slide at the contact surface of the cocking
lever is displaced laterally relative to the longitudinal axis of
the weapon.
11. Cocking and loading device according to claim 3, characterized
in that the parts of the slide and of the cocking lever which abut
on one another have tempered surfaces.
12. Cocking and loading device according to claim 1 characterized
in that said cocking lever includes a handle and a mounting member,
said mounting member facing away from the muzzle of the weapon in
the rest position, the cocking lever being pivotally mounted at the
bolt by means of said mounting member.
13. Cocking and loading device for a weapon including self-loading
small firearms which are provided with a muzzle and a bolt movable
in a longitudinal direction of the weapon, comprising:
a pivoted cocking lever which extends in a rest position in the
longitudinal direction of the weapon and can be transferred into an
operating position by lateral pivoting, in said operating position
a spring endeavoring to pivot the cocking lever forward and to
retain said cocking lever in the rest position exerts pressure on
said cocking lever, the cocking lever being accommodated in its
rest position within the exterior contour of the weapon,
characterized in that said cocking lever is arranged at the bolt
and can be pivoted out of a housing of the weapon to the two sides
of the longitudinal axis of the weapon, a forward end of the bolt
facing the muzzle of the weapon has a slot that defines two thighs
and the cocking lever has a mounting portion that is arranged to
pivot between the two thighs.
14. Cocking and loading device according to claim 13, characterized
in that the cocking lever an be pivoted around a pin arranged
transversely to said slot.
Description
The invention relates to a cocking and loading device for
self-loading small firearms which are provided with a bolt movable
in their longitudinal direction, in particular for an automatic
rifle, with a pivoted cocking lever which extends in its rest
position in longitudinal direction and can be transferred into an
operating position by lateral pivoting, in said operating position
a spring endeavouring to pivot the cocking lever forward and to
retain it in the rest position exerts pressure on said cocking
lever.
The German Patent 20 23 523 teaches a cocking and loading device by
which the bolt of a weapon can be moved from its front position
into a rear position, in the case of weapons which close on firing,
in order to convey the bolt into the rear position so that it is
caught by the triggering mechanism or that the bolt, when moving
forwardly, introduces a cartridge into the barrel when the weapon
is to be made ready to fire. In addition, it may be necessary to
retract the bolt for clearing jammings. In order to ensure the
back-movement of the bolt, the cocking and loading device is
provided with a cocking lever which is transferred from its rest
position into an operating position by pivoting, in this operating
position the cocking lever passes through a slot which extends in
the longitudinal direction of the weapon and projects the weapon
laterally. This cocking lever which projects laterally serves the
rifleman as a handle in order to retract the bolt. In order to
avoid that this cocking lever is also actuated together with the
bolt which runs back and forth during shooting and thus represents
a considerable source of danger to the rifle man it is suggested
not to mount the cocking lever directly at the bolt, but to attach
it to a sliding element, so that the cocking movement can be
transferred to the bolt via this sliding element which is movably
arranged correspondingly to the bolt in the housing of the weapon
and the cocking lever is disconnected from the cocking lever by
means of the sliding element and thus from the movements of the
bolt. Such solutions have the disadvantage that many parts are
necessary which increase the weight, the time needed for
maintenance, as well as the propensity for malfunctions of the
weapon.
Because of the fact that the slide element associated with the
cocking lever is not connected to the bolt of the weapon, but only
abuts on the front side of the bolt, only the cocking movement for
transferring the bolt into its rear position can be performed by
means of this cocking and loading device, yet, e.g. in case of
jamming or the like, when the bolt is trapped in a position between
its front and rear position, these cocking and loading devices are
not suitable for transferring the bolt into the front position,
i.e. to serve as a closing means, because the slide element is not
coupled with the bolt. Such a coupling can only be achieved by
additional extensive means (DE-B-19 02 275).
Another disadvantage is that also in the case of a cocking lever
abutting on the housing this lever usually projects over the
surface of the housing (German Patent 20 23 523), which may be
cumbersome in the use of the weapon, in particular when it is used
in difficult terrain with thick undergrowth or when the weapon is
held improperly when firing it.
Therefore it is the object of the present invention to avoid these
disadvantages of the known cocking and loading devices and to
provide a safe cocking and loading device by which the bolt can
easily be moved into the rear as well as into the forward
position.
The present invention solves this object by that fact that the
cocking lever is accommodated in its rest position within the
exterior contour of the weapon and arranged at the bolt directly or
by means of an intermediate part.
The cocking and loading device according to the present invention
comprises a cocking lever which is coupled to the bolt in that the
cocking lever is either pivoted at the bolt directly or connected
to the bolt by means of an intermediate part in a force-locking
manner. Now, this cocking lever allows to move the bolt into the
rear position as well as into the front position, because it
permanently engages the bolt. As a result, the cocking lever also
carries out the movements of the bolt which run forwardly and
rearwardly when firing and thus is arranged within or at the
exterior contour of the weapon in its rest position in which it is
aligned in the longitudinal direction of the weapon, i.e. pivoted
back from its operating position. Now, the rifleman is no longer in
the danger to be injured by the cocking lever running forwardly and
rearwardly. Due to the fact that the cocking lever is connected
with the bolt directly or by means of an intermediate part, such
cocking and loading devices or weapons with these cocking and
loading devices have a lower weight and are easier to be maintained
and less prone to malfunctions, because they have less construction
parts. A preferred embodiment provides that the cocking lever does
not absolutely have to run through the housing of the weapon via a
slot extending in longitudinal direction.
According to a preferred embodiment in a bolt consisting of two
parts, i.e. a bolt head carrier and a bolt head arranged in the
bolt head carrier, the cocking lever is fixed at the bolt head
carrier.
Advantageously the forward end of the bolt head carrier, i.e. the
one facing the muzzle of the weapon, is slotted and the cocking
lever is arranged between the two thighs which form the slot.
A preferred embodiment provides that the cocking lever can be
pivoted around a pin arranged transversely to the slot. With a slot
lying transversely in the operating position of the weapon the pin
is in vertical position, passing through the two thighs of the end
of the bolt having the slot and being fixed in it. This pin
preferably represents the pivot point for the cocking lever.
The resetting of the cocking lever from the operating position into
the rest position is preferably realized by the fact that the
spring urging the cocking lever into the rest position engages the
cocking lever by means of a slide. In this case the slide is
constructed so that when pivoting the cocking lever from the rest
position into the operating position it is guided slidably in the
bolt in the longitudinal direction of the weapon against the spring
tension.
A preferred embodiment of the invention provides that seen from the
longitudinal direction of the weapon the cocking lever is arranged
at the one side of the pin and the slide is arranged at its other
side. The spring acts on the slide in such a way that it is urged
into the direction of the pin within the bolt. According to an
embodiment of the invention a power transfer from the slide to the
cocking lever is preferably realized by the fact that the slide
embraces the pin and abuts on a contact surface of the cocking
lever. The power of the spring urging the slide in direction of the
pin is thus transferred around the pin to the cocking lever
positioned at the other side of the pin and thus said cocking lever
is urged into its rest position. If the cocking lever is pivoted
from its rest position in direction of the operating position, by
means of the contact surface this change of position is transferred
to the slide which abuts on this surface and is also displaced
against the spring tension. The displacing action of the slide is
stored in the spring and released after disengaging the cocking
lever by pivoting it into the rest position.
Advantageously the contact surface is at a distance from the pin
axis and the thighs of the slide which embrace the pin are also at
a lateral distance from the pin axis. By means of these distances
lever arms are formed which, when the cocking lever is pivoted,
serve as lever gear and transfer the pivot movement of the cocking
lever in a movement displacing the slide and vice versa.
According to an embodiment of the invention, with the cocking lever
being in operating position the contact point of the slide at the
contact surface of the cocking lever is displaced laterally
relative to the longitudinal axis of the weapon. This has the
advantage that during the pivot movement of the cocking lever from
the rest position into the operating position the lever arms
change, influencing the lever moment in such a way that it
increases or decreases with increasing pivoting. A decreasing lever
moment entrains that the cocking lever can be retained in the rest
position by a rifleman without that great power is necessary and
moreover the cocking lever is securely fixed in the rest position
within the housing of the weapon by means of the spring.
A continual change of the lever arm with the pivoting of the
cocking lever from the rest position into the operating position is
achieved by the fact that the contact surface has a convex bend
relative to the pin.
Advantageously the cocking lever can be pivoted out of the housing
of the weapon to the two sides of the longitudinal axis of the
weapon. Weapons having such a cocking and loading device can be
operated equally well by left-handed as well as right-handed
persons.
Preferably the cocking lever can be transferred to the operating
position laterally, vertically, as well as from an intermediate
position. Thus the cocking and loading abilities are further
improved. A preferred embodiment provides that the bolt head
carrier projects at least partially the housing of the weapon with
its upper side.
Advantageously, above the bolt head carrier, the housing of the
weapon is provided with a carrying handle which in particular
overlaps the bolt head carrier. A further development provides that
the cocking lever is arranged in a carrying aperture of the weapon.
The carrying handle permits a very easy and comfortable service of
the weapon and provides great free space around the cocking lever
which can now be pivoted in all directions and the bolt can be
retracted in the pivoted position of the lever. This free space of
the cocking lever is at the same time used as gripping or carrying
aperture.
A decrease in wear of the cocking lever and of the slide is
achieved by the fact that the parts of the slide and of the cocking
lever which abut on one another have tempered surfaces.
Further details, advantages and features of the invention will
become apparent from the following description showing a preferred
embodiment with reference to the drawing.
FIG. 1 shows a top view of a longitudinal section through a cocking
and loading device inserted in the forward end of a bolt, the
cocking and loading device being in the rest position;
FIG. 2 shows a section II--II of the cocking and loading device
arranged in the forward end of the bolt according to FIG. 1;
and
FIG. 3 shows a view according to FIG. 1, the cocking and loading
device being in its operating position.
The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 shows a broken-off
representation of the bolt head carrier 1 of a two-part bolt having
a bolt head arranged in a bolt head carrier 1, a cocking and
loading device comprised by the reference numeral 3 is arranged at
the forward end 2 of said bolt head carrier 1 which faces the
muzzle of a weapon not shown. This cocking and loading device 3
consists of a cocking lever 4, a slide 5 and a coil-pressure spring
6 which in sliding direction of the bolt head carrier 1 rests with
its one end 7 in a blind hole 8 arranged in the bolt head carrier
1. The other end 9 of the coil spring 6 engages in a recess 10 of
the H-shaped slide 5. This H-shaped slide 5 is guided in a groove
11 in longitudinal direction of the bolt head carrier 1, the thighs
12 and 13 being surrounded by the walls 14 and 15 of the groove 11
in a sliding manner. The slide 5 is urged into its rest position by
means of the coil spring 6, the thighs 12 and 13 abutting on the
contact surface 18 of the cocking lever 4. Moreover, the ends of
the thighs 12 and 13 facing the blind hole 8 surround the end 9 of
the coil spring 6 and hold it safely in the recess 10. The two
other ends of the thighs 12 nd 13 facing the cocking lever 4
surround a pin 17 arranged in a recess 16 and abut with their front
sides on the cocking lever 4 at a contact surface 18.
The cut-section II--II illustrated in FIG. 2 shows that the cocking
lever 4 consists of a handle 19 and a mounting member 20, the
mounting member 20 engaging in the bolt head carrier 1 and having a
hole 21 through which the pin 17 passes. The hole 21 serves as a
pivoting point for the cocking lever 4 which according to the arrow
30 can be pivoted by about 90.degree. around the pin 17 in both
directions. As also shown in FIG. 2 the pin 17 has a projecting
section 22 the diameter of which corresponds to the width of the
recess 16 between the forward ends of the two thighs 12 and 13 and
the height of which corresponds to the height of the slide 5. At
the lower end the pin 17 ends in a journal 23 the diameter of which
is also smaller than the one of the pin 17. This formation of the
pin 17 ensures a safe seat in the lower thigh 24 of the bolt head
carrier 1. The pin 17 is prevented from dropping by riveting.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the walls 14 and 15 of the groove 11 do
not extend to the forward end of the bolt head carrier facing the
muzzle of the weapon, so that in the section around the pin 17 a
slot 26 traversing the bolt head carrier 1 is formed, the slide 5
engages this slot 26 when the cocking and loading device 3 is in
the rest position, as shown in FIG. 1. If the cocking lever 4 is
transferred from the rest position into the operating position by
pivoting the handle 19, as shown in FIG. 3, the slide 5 is
displaced in its rear position by pivoting the handle 19 via the
contact surface 18, because the slide 5 is removed from the area of
the slot 26. Advantageously the contact point 27 of the thigh 12 or
13 at the handle 19 moves along the contact surface 18 and moves
away from the center longitudinal axis 28 of the cocking and
loading device 3. Due to the distance of the contact surface 18
from the pin axis 29 and by means of the distance of the two thighs
12 and 13 from the pin axis 29 the two lever arms a and b, which
come into use when the cocking lever 4 is pivoted, can be defined.
Moreover, by means of the convex bend of the contact surface 18 in
particular in its outer areas the lever arms a and b of the lever
gear unit are advantageously influenced by the handle 19 and the
slide 5. A riflemen can easily prevent that the handle swings back
into its rest position in that the rifleman himself exerts a torque
at the cocking lever 4 so that it remains in the operating position
and nevertheless power in the firing direction of the weapon, i.e.
in opposite direction of the cocking and loading device, can be
exerted on the bolt head carrier 1. If the cocking lever 4 is
disengaged from its operating position, as shown in FIG. 3, the
slide 5 by means of its thigh 12 exerts power on the contact
surface 18 of the cocking lever 4 due to the compressed coil spring
6, said power entrains a pivoting of the cocking lever 4 into the
rest position shown in FIG. 1. The cocking lever 4 is within the
exterior contour of the weapon in this rest position.
As also shown in FIG. 3 the two walls 14 and 15 are shortened, so
that the cocking lever 4 can also be pivoted into the other
operating position, which is not shown in FIG. 3. From this
position, too, the cocking lever is automatically pivoted back into
the rest position by means of the slide 5 after disengagement.
* * * * *